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In The Studio: Five Best Audio Editing Apps?

What computer literate people consider when it comes to their audio editor of choice
This article is provided by Bobby Owsinski.

Lifehacker recently ran a survey trying to find the five best audio editing tools, and it turned up some interesting and surprising choices.

Granted, Lifehacker is not a site with a core audience of audio professionals, but it’s still interesting to see exactly what computer literate people consider when it comes to their audio editor of choice.

So here we go:

1. Audacity
(56% of the votes) – I can see why this was chosen since it’s a fairly powerful audio app and the price is right (free). Plus, it’s cross platform.

2. Adobe Audition
(14%) – I think that a lot of people use this because it’s included as part of the Adobe Creative Suite.

3. Avid Pro Tools (10%) – The big daddy in the pro world, Pro Tools has dominated music, film and broadcast for the last decade. If you’re going to be a real-world pro, use anything else at your own risk.

4. Reaper
(10%) – Here’s a DAW that’s coming on strong. The price is only $60, and so many people rave about it that I can see it taking over as the top dog if Pro Tools should ever falter.

5. Ableton Live (10%) – If you’re making or working with electronic music, then Ableton Live is the center of your universe. If electronic music isn’t on your radar screen, then probably neither is Live.

There was also honorable mention for Goldwave, which I wasn’t even aware of, and Soundforge, which has now come to the Mac after a long run as a PC-only app.

Bobby Owsinski is an author, producer, music industry veteran and technical consultant who has written numerous books covering all aspects of audio recording. For more information be sure to check out his website and blog.

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